One of my favorite things in our house is the full-size freezer we have in the basement. I love freezing, especially flash-freezing local fruit and vegetables from the farmer's market so that I can pull them out in the depths of winter and get a taste of last summer or last fall. Of course, it helps if I remember that I have stuff in there. And it helps even more if I both remember it and then cook with it.
When I saw that this week's selection for Tuesdays with Dorie was the Blueberry Crumb Cake, light bulb!, I remembered that I still had both blueberries and sour cherries in the freezer from last summer. Yup, that's 8 months ago, but trust me, freezing fruit that long is fine. It hasn't killed us yet. And I was so glad to not be stuck buying tasteless, overpriced berries at the Stop & Shop. Happily, I pulled out New York State blueberries and sour cherries from Summer 2008.
I've made this cake twice before. My friend Hestia had it at a brunch the first time I made it and when her 40th birthday rolled around last year, she asked me to make it as her birthday cake. Crumb cake for a birthday? Well, okay...who can deny a birthday girl? (Not me). We all gorged that night on this cake, along with a lemon almond layer cake (because I had to make a proper birthday cake too).
This time, I used half white whole wheat flour, just to make it a little different. It adds a nice earthiness that goes well with the berries and cherries. I also used almonds instead of walnuts in the topping, and added a touch of almond extract to the cake.
I loved the sour cherries in it, especially in contrast to the sweet blueberries. So once again, my freezer came through for me in the dead of winter, bringing last summer's sweetness to life again on a chilly winter's day.
You can find the recipe for this delicious crumb cake on Sihan's blog.
As for me, I'm going back down to the freezer to see what else might be hiding in there!
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10 comments:
Blueberries and sour cherries sound delicious! How nice to have a stash of summer fruit in the freezer.
Oh wow, sour cherries would be amazing! I'm going to have to remember to try that one. Great idea to use last summer's bounty to tide us over to the warmer weather.
Oh STARS! Sour cherries sounds like a wonderful addition to the cake! Nicely done!
Wow! That sounds great!
Good grief, she had the time to bake it! With all that's going on...
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... Superwoman! She bakes, holds a blog, she writes and even has the time pick summer fruits to freeze... all that on top of soooo much more!
Very nice results, Kitty! Bravo!
Sour cherries - yum! What a well-stocked freezer you have - I'm impressed!
Great idea to use sour cherries..my husband would love this!
The fruit combination sounds great and looks delicious.
The earthiness sounds like a nice touch. That's why i want to try baking with whole wheat flour, but I need to buy a bag first!
Hope you had a nice Easter... lots of projects to come, a feeling of renewal and of course many, many chocolate bunnies! LOL
Keep in touch!
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